


From Sanctum to Tower

by EventHorizons13



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Avengers Family, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Mutant Powers, Not Canon Compliant, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Self-Doubt, Slow Burn, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:01:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23660494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EventHorizons13/pseuds/EventHorizons13
Summary: A series of one shots based in the MCU. Kathleen O'Rourke is a mutant and has found her way onto the Avengers after recommendation from the man that helped her gain control of her powers, Stephen Strange.
Relationships: Stephen Strange & Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers & Original Female Character(s), Tony Stark/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	1. Poor Control

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kathleen flees the tower in search of some peace, afraid that she will end up causing more damage than help with the Avengers, perhaps even to some of them.

Freak. Outcast. Loner. Mutant. I had heard it all before, more times than I could count. The words circled around my head often enough, though I tried to keep them beat back. Most of those around me wouldn’t be happy to know that I often let them get to me. When I stayed to my room, asked for time to be alone, it was when the voices were the loudest and I needed the time to find my center again. It didn’t help that I was lacking a lot of control over myself during those moments. Meaning it was dangerous to be around anyone on the team during those moments, which just added to the negative thoughts. I couldn’t allow myself to bring harm to any of them because I was incapable of handling my emotions and my abilities.

As it was, my room could have been a dangerous place to be. It had occurred once or twice where the power in the tower had flickered, threatening to go out as I rode the ups and downs of my emotions. I had tried to rid the room of anything technology based, choosing candles for lights and pen and paper over any laptop. Books were my form of entertainment. But it was still connected to the tower and that was where the problem lay if someone worked me up or I lost myself to those voices. They tried to understand, tried to help but most of the time, they had no clue what to do, what they could possibly come close to doing to help me out of the hole that I had dug myself.

Steve was the one who often found himself standing outside my door. He was the one I was closest to on the entire team. Maybe it was because we both felt out of place, him being in the wrong decade and me, well me being among the wrong species it seemed. Or at least often felt like. I wasn’t as afraid of hurting him, knowing that it would take a hell of a lot to manage so. The others? Natasha still intimidated me a bit, Clint I didn’t mind as much but he never took the opportunity, Bruce couldn’t be around least he get triggered himself, and I refused to have Tony around least I end up doing something to the arc reactor. No one but Steve understood that I didn’t have full control of my powers, especially in moments like these. I was afraid that it would cause any trust that they had in me to fail and I wasn’t ready to face any of that. This was the second closest thing to a home that I had found and I did not want to lose it now that the home that I did have was no longer a place that I could stay permanently.

This time around, I did not want to even see Steve. I could feel the sparks flying around my fingertips as I pulled the electricity from the walls. So, I did the next best thing. I had Steve call the one person who would be able to help calm me down, help me find my center and made sure that I didn’t harm anyone.

Stephen Strange. Cocky, arrogant, former neurosurgeon extraordinaire, and Sorcerer Supreme. Well, maybe less cocky and arrogant than he was before he had his eyes opened to the world beyond the comprehension of most. The man was like a god send for me really. He had found me when I was young, taken me in at the Sanctum and taught me. He helped me channel and learn to control the frightening abilities that I had discovered when I was sixteen. He had patience greater than expected. Why I was lucky enough, I would never know but I had learned to not question it long ago.

It didn’t take long for the familiar portal to show up in the room. I sigh of relief escaped my lips before I could stop it and then his face appeared. Brow cocked, he didn’t say a word. None were needed, it was a silent challenge and yet invitation to step through. As soon as I had passed, the portal shut and my shoulders fell. There was a lot less technology here for me to feed off of. The mystic energy helped calm down that which was man made. My eyes fell shut and I searched hard for that core to deepen the relaxed sensation that was washing over me.

“What was it this time?”

“Actually it was an argument with Tony.” I spoke meekly, as if afraid that he would be disappointed in me. I may have been an Avenger but the man was still my mentor, my teacher, the one individual that I strove to get constant approval from. He didn’t say anything right away and I was not all that fond of the idea of turning to look at him so I remained in the dark about whether or not he approved of me calling out for his help.

“It was smart of you to get out of the tower.” I let out a rush of air, not realizing that I had been holding it in to begin with.

“I didn’t want to risk hurting him. Steve didn’t even question the move.” I felt a warm hand rest on my shoulder, giving it a small squeeze. He chose not to comment any further on the situation, didn’t ask what the argument had been about. No, he was who he was and that was what I took comfort in.

“Let us go meditate.” I nodded and followed him without a word.

After a few hours of meditating and calm talking, Stephen explaining some new threat that he had felt and the new dimension that he had visited, I felt thoroughly relaxed and calm. Mentally, I was back on level ground and I could never express the sort of gratitude that I felt for Stephen in moments like these. We were sipping tea in a comfortable silence when Wong came into the room. He paused before managing to say what he needed to say.

“There are a two men at the door, asking to see Miss O’Rourke.” I let out a small sigh. One had to be Steve. He was probably worried, the poor guy. I could have at least left him a note in case he had decided to come into the room to check on me. That was my fault. As far as the other went, I wasn’t sure which one would decide to accompany him. Maybe Clint? Maybe Bruce? Probably Bruce as he was more caring than what he let on. And the scientist in him was always curious, as much as he tried to restrain it.

“Are you capable of handling them?” It was more for their safety than my own, that much I knew when the question left his mouth. I took another sip of my tea before nodding. I was in a much better spot now than I had been before. I couldn’t shy away from them forever. As much as I had wanted to after today. Standing up, I passed along a smile to Stephen as he remained sitting, as if he was going to meditate again.

“Thank you. I will be back shortly.” He nodded before closing his eyes and I knew that he was gone already. Rolling my shoulders and working out some of the stiffness from sitting in the same position for so long, I followed Wong to the door where he let the two men in. It came as no surprise when Steve was the first one through the door, relief crossing his face when he saw me standing safe and in one piece. He pulled me into a brief hug before stepping back. What did come as a surprise was seeing Tony step through the door afterward. That was unexpected.

“I couldn’t keep him from following me. Sorry.” I glanced towards the blond before nodding, showing him that I didn’t hold him responsible. I bit the inside of my cheek, waiting for some snide or biting comment to come from Tony in regards to the Sanctum. It was no secret that the man was not a believer in the mystic arts, in magic, that he thought he would be able to logically explain everything always. Nothing did though as he just looked around before his eyes landed on me. I took a calming breath and just barely kept from rubbing my fingers together. A nervous habit that just built up electrical energy.

“You okay?” His hands were stuffed into his pockets, head cocked to the side slightly. There wasn’t his usual quip there, it was a genuine question.

“Am now.”

“You wanna explain why you ran off?” My eyes darted around the room to the threemen. Wong was giving me a gentle smile, a small nod of his head before he backed out of the room. It was reassurance. Steve did the same before I was able to focus back on Tony.

“I didn’t want to hurt anyone at the tower or cause any problems.” I shrugged at the simple explanation though my heart was thrumming hard in my chest and my palms were sweating just a bit. His brow furrowed for a moment as he worked through the words.

“You wouldn’t…” I cut him off before he could finish the statement.

“I wouldn’t but I could, even if I didn’t want to. I don’t exactly have the tightest control over my abilities, especially when I’m not exactly in control of my own emotions.” I swallowed hard, the argument coming back to mind. It had been stupid really. He had been trying to shove more technology at me and I had snapped a bit harsher than intended and it devolved from there quickly. “I refused to hurt any of you. But I’m most nervous around you Tony. The last thing I want to do is short circuit your reactor or drain energy from it. I mean, I could kill you if I let myself get too angry or too upset and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I even so much as caused a gasp to come from you because I messed with that thing.” I ran a hand through my hair and tried to get from getting too emotional over it. I took comfort in my surroundings, in the feeling of the mystic energy, knowing that Stephen was just a few rooms over.

“If I don’t trust myself, I know that you guys can’t trust me. I’m sorry for keeping it from you so long. Stephen helps me keep that center with the meditation and the mystic energy that holds to this place. So, that is why I retreated here.” I dropped my gaze. “If you want my stuff out of the tower, I understand.” I heard some feet shuffling, probably a silent conversation going on between Steve and Tony. They often did that.

“We aren’t going to kick you out Kate.” That was Steve. I glanced up at him to see a small smile playing at his lips.

“Would have been nice to know before I pushed your buttons but hey, whatever. Besides, if you are able to do that, it means I still have problems that need to be worked on. Can’t have others realizing that there is something that they can do to the reactor.” He seemed a little too at ease with the whole thing but I found myself not wanting to question it in the moment. I would later, when I was alone but the fact that I could go back to the tower was sitting in front of me. It was too good to pass up.

“You sure about that?”

“Yeah, I’ll even recruit you to the lab to help me figure it out. Wouldn’t be all that hard.” I nearly rolled my eyes. Of course he would say that it wouldn’t be all that hard.

“How about we get out of here. There is still the dinner that we need to get ready for.” I had nearly forgotten that we had a charity dinner that we had to make an appearance for.

“Of course. Let me just go let Stephen know and I’ll be ready.” They nodded and let me go off. Poor control of my powers or not, I had people around me who cared and who were willing to help. That was what mattered in the end.


	2. Late Night Meetings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Understandings don't always have to be spoken. Sometimes they can occur over mac and cheese in the early hours of the morning.

The fight had not exactly gone as planned. Not that they ever really did. It wasn't like we could choose what was destroyed, who was hurt, and what the outcome was. It wouldn't be much of a fight if that was the case, we would always have the upper hand. Though that wouldn't be a good thing either. That sort of power was dangerous. But that was all beside the point. As a team, we limped back to the tower to nurse our wounds and deal with the fallout from the latest trouble. No matter what we did, there was some scrutiny. The lives saved didn't seem to matter as much as the destruction and those that were lost did. People couldn't really be blamed for that. Why should one of their loved ones not get saved while someone else did? It was the emotional rational of someone grieving. We had all dealt with it enough in the few years that the team had been around.

I was sporting a gash across my forehead and a burnt arm, Tony was battered and bruised as he often was after getting knocked around in his suit, Clint was burnt on one of his legs, Natasha looked like she had a busted nose and arm. Bruce and Steve? They seemed in fairly good condition. A few minor cuts and bruises but for the most part whole. Though thoroughly exhausted if their slacked faces and light snoring were anything to go by on the flight to the tower. Cradling my arm carefully to my chest, my own head was tipped back as I tried to redirect the attention that was on the pain in my arm to anything else, like the press release we could make and keeping what little energy I had left under wraps. I was running on near zero and didn't want to leech anything the plane or Tony. So, press release was certainly a good attention holder.

Once we hit the tower, those of us that needed to head to the medical bay did so while the others went off in their own direction to get some rest and recover. I wanted everyone else to be looked at first, not wanting to risk zapping too much energy from any of the machines that might need to be used. Tony had done his best to protect them after learning that I didn't have full control of my powers but that didn't stop my abilities no matter how hard he tried. They were all work than me anyway. Clint's burn was deeper and more painful, as were the broken bones that Natasha was suffering.

I tossed a tiny spark between my fingers on my good hand to keep myself entertained and awake. Even if I had wanted to pass out on the flight back, I wouldn't here as my brain had enough time to settle into what had happened. It was never easy to do what needed to be done in any of our fights, bad guys who wanted to do harm or not. It was one of those aspects that I was never going to get used to. Even when I was with Strange, most of those men or other beings received their form of punishment by being banished. Rarely did he ever take a life and that was how I had learned to handle situations. Especially given what I could do. Here though, there wasn't a lot that could be done about it. It was almost a necessity. None of that made it easier on the mind though.

I got a little sleep as my arm was healed slowly. It wasn't a lot but it was something seeing as I knew that I would be up most of the night. Doc talked me to quietly, making sure that my head wasn't too far gone, that I had control of myself. Steve stopped by too, to check in and make sure that my arm wasn't too bad. I gave him a reassuring smile when he stood beside me.

"Doc will have me back to normal in a little bit. I am fine. Go get some sleep Cap. You need it." He smiled softly before nodding and heading off like I had requested he do. At least he didn't fight me on it or push when he knew I wasn't actually okay. I appreciated that level of respect. Though I shouldn't have expected anything less coming from Steve Rogers. Keeping myself awake, I waited for my arm to finish healing before I was able to be dismissed to head towards my room. It wasn't exactly where I wanted to be but it would allow me some time to quietly meditate. That would help with the difficulty I was having dealing with the results of the latest fight we had taken part of.

Meditating helped quite a bit but I still wasn't able to get any sleep. Not that it was surprising. My energy was slow to build up and rather than have the expected effect of needing to sleep, the lack of electricity kept me wide awake, as if my body was afraid to fall asleep and never wake up due to the lack of it. So until my batteries recharged to an acceptable amount, I would be up.

With that train of thought sticking in my head, I made my way towards the kitchen on the floor. It would provide a distraction as well as a good snack. I was actually hungry now that things had settled down enough. Gathering the bowls and the ingredients that I needed, I tossed them onto the counter and stared at them for several seconds. I questioned my life choices in those seconds before going with my initial choice.

The pasta cooked slowly and I was just mixing in the cheese when I heard footsteps approaching the kitchen. Not looking up, I decided to ignore the fact that someone else had come to the kitchen at the hour that it was. Which was...I squinted at the clock to see exactly what time it was. Nearly three thirty in the morning. There were a few more seconds of silence, allowing me to mix the milk and cheese into a creamy mixture over my pasta.

The refrigerator opened and closed, the sound filling the quiet kitchen around whoever it was that was with me and myself. I lifted the spoon and took a bite of the mac and cheese. Perfect.

"What are you doing up at, what time is it? Uh...three thirty in the morning making mac and cheese?" Ah, so it was Tony that was with me. Judging by the beer in his hand, he couldn't sleep either. I gave him a look that should have said it all but he just smiled and waited patiently for me to answer the question. The man was more annoying at the early hour of the morning than he was any other time of the day.

"Look, I don't ask for much in life but just this once, could you not question my madness for like ten minutes?" I did not want to talk to him about the mess that was happening in my head. There was an inkling that urged me to, telling me that he would understand but I just wasn't ready yet. I hadn't even talked to Stephen about it. Which meant that Tony Stark was not the first person that I was going to spill my guts to. These guys seemed to barely pass a second glance at the life that was taken right before their eyes. I know it affected some more than the others but they all handled it much better than I could have anticipated. It was just another aspect of the job but to me it was so much more. It was not something that I could settle into easily, that I could not let it not affect me. I wasn't sure if that was something that they would understand. Stephen I knew would but I hadn't been able to figure out how to broach the subject with him. He would know what to say and how to calm me down and see through to the other side. Tony? I had my doubts that he would be able to say much beyond it is part of the job.

"Alright fine. But then I do need an answer to this question." He paused and I waited for him to continue onward, looking up as he seemed to be waiting for me to do. "Did you make enough to share?" Trust this man to ask about food when moments before the tension could have been cut with a knife and there was a potential emotionally crippling discussion that was ready to be had. I rolled my eyes but found myself nodding nonetheless. If he wanted some, I could spare enough. It would probably keep him around a bit too which could be a good or a bad thing. I hadn't figured that one out yet.

"Yeah, there is enough for you to have a small bowl. I guess." He jumped up with a smile on his face and moved to grab himself a bowl, placing it right alongside the one I had gotten out for myself. "You're lucky you know. I don't normally share my midnight food with anyone."

"Well, I feel honored. More than anything I have received before." He moved back to the fridge and pulled out another beer, apparently for me as he set it aside unopened. "And maybe I will have to duck out of my lab a bit more often if you are up cooking at three every morning." That got a small laugh out of me and I could see the smile on his face grow. He was such a child sometimes. Honestly, it was refreshing more often than not even if the others found it annoying.

"Yeah, like anything can draw you out of that lab of yours."

"You wound me with your words of doubt." He mockingly held his hand over his chest and pretended to be in pain. "See what your cruel words do to me?" He was trying to get a rise out of me. He always seemed to, though now it was in a much different way than it had been when I had first arrived at the tower. It was amazing what a little time together could do to ease tensions and worries. I looked over at him and pointed towards the bowl that was set on the counter, still steaming just a bit.

"Alright drama queen. Knock it off and eat some of the mac and cheese before it gets cold. Otherwise it will be wasted when I could have eaten it and then you will have me real upset." He chuckled and grabbed his bowl before heading towards the lounge area without another word. I wasn't sure if I was expected to follow him or not. He could have very well decided that he wanted to have his snack alone even though he had acted like he wanted to hang around. I had a hard time reading the man.

"You coming?" Shaking my head, I tossed the dirty pot into the sink before grabbing both the beer and the bowl and moving off in the same direction. Maybe having some company wouldn't be as bad as I had thought it would have been.


	3. Thoughts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kathleen reminds Tony that thinking is dangerous. He proves her wrong.

It was a quiet day at the tower, something that was rare and far between for all of us. It seemed that everyone was together and no one had any urgent business to handle. Even Stephen hadn’t contacted me for quite some time for any sort of help with anything that was being a threat from another dimension. I wasn’t about to look a gifted horse in the mouth and turn down the opportunity to relax. So, I kept to my rooms for the time being and decided to meditate. I had purposely been making more time in my day, each and every day, to carry out the calming and centering activity. It helped tremendously in keeping my powers under wraps. Even Tony respected the time enough that he allowed me to have it in peace. There were no knocks on the door or shouts for my help, or scientists coming to me to ask for any sort of aid with their experiments.

Aiding in the lab had been something that I had been doing on a more regular basis, once Tony figured out how to keep calm around me and not push too hard. Thankfully. It was something that I was surprised to learn that he could do. Restraint and Stark never went together in the same sentence. But that was another situation that I wouldn’t question. I was going to run with it as long as I could. It made me feel more useful around the tower, a little bit less of an outsider among these heroes. My powers came in use when they needed a little extra push or when Tony wanted to test out a suit and a reactor. Since I could overload or drain energy, he was figuring out how to protect his reactor that way. Needless to say that we had blown through several reactors by now. A lot of them ended up drained rather than blown up. Tony had managed to figure out how to handle the overload burden more efficiently than having it drained.

My mind cleared as I focused on my breathing, sitting cross legged on my bed. The room was quiet, the tower was quiet, and everything felt more peaceful than the atmosphere that normally overtook the tower.

I was able to fall into a drift less, thoughtless state of being for what may have amounted to two hours before I was interrupted. A knock on my door resounded throughout the small room.

“Hey, Sparks?” My brow furrowed. That wasn’t usual for Bruce to call me by the nickname, no matter how many times that I told him it was okay. It didn’t bother me as much now, especially now that I was feeling like part of the team. Pushing up off of the bed, I opened the door and peeked around to see Bruce looking a little more unsure than usual.

“Hey Bruce. What’s up?”

“Well, we could use your help in the lab for a bit if you wouldn’t mind.” He wasn’t looking at me, which was another unusual sign.

“Yeah sure. What’s up, Tony get stuck in a suit again or something?”

“Not exactly.” I laughed softly.

“Alright. Clearly it is going to be a need to see to be believed with the way that you are acting. So lead away Bruce.” I motioned for him to go first so I could follow behind. Whatever the carnage was, I didn’t want to be hit first. That was an acceptable response right?

Getting to the lab, I was surprised to find it in relative peace and without any sort of destruction occurring. I glanced towards the quiet man beside me already to see him walking away.

“Bruce…”

“Hey Sparks! Just in time. Come on in.” Narrowing my eyes, I moved into the lab, now more than suspicious about what was going on.

“What did you need Tony? Bruce said that my help was required.” The grin that was resting on his lips was troublesome. Tony looked all too pleased with himself, which was always a troublesome thing. It didn’t take living here to figure that one out. Cautiously, I stepped into the lab, trying to be overly aware of my surroundings, least I end up covered in paint or shot by Barton or anything of the sort. Nothing was put passed these men.

“Well, I had a thought…”

“Oh no….” Tony’s thoughts when he began a sentence like that were never good. That combined with the smile and who know? The last time this happened, he wanted to use me to see if we could light up every Christmas tree in New York City. It ended with me wrapped up in sparkling and blinking Christmas lights, walking around the city and singing carols. The history of Stark and I with his ideas was not a good once.

“I swear it’s a good one this time!”

“That’s what you said last time Tony.”

“Yeah but last time had been about getting laughs. And messing with you because you broke my favorite tool.” I rolled my eyes when he brought the situation back up.

“I had told you that it was an accident and that I was very sorry.”

“That’s all besides the point Sparks. Let’s focus here. Back to my fantastically genius idea.” I groaned softly and moved to sit down. This might take awhile. If anything to previously happen was to be gone by. Pacing back and forth, it was almost impressive to watch the gears in his head spin. The man’s mind worked like no other and while I wouldn’t give him the ego boost that he certainly didn’t need, I always liked to watch him work through a problem or talk outwhatever idea was taking over his head. Even if it involved some sort of humiliation. Not that I liked the idea just watching the process.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I waited for him to reveal whatever this big idea was. For all the hype, he was not being very forth coming with it.

“Alright, so we are back to your genius idea but you aren’t telling me what this genius idea is or how I need to help with it.” I cocked a brow and threw the comment out, waiting for him to really kickstart into it.

“Well, I think it is going to be easier to show you than just explaining it.” Now, he was really throwing me for a loop.

“No way is that happening Stark. I don’t trust you as far as I can throw you. I may not be that smart, but I am definitely up to your games.”

“Oh stop being dramatic Kathleen. It isn’t any sort of trick.” He moved over to me and pulled me into a seated position. Once that was accomplished, his arm was thrown over my shoulders. “Come on, let me prove it to you.” I was in for something, what it was remained unknown.

My confusion was deepened when we were riding the elevator up to the main floor and Tony threw a blindfold over my eyes.

“Did I just say that I didn’t trust you?”

“Yeah, well you are going to have to Sparks. So just keep calm.”

“Easier said then done you ass.”

“No need for the name calling. I am hurt you think so little of me.” I could picture the way that he was holding a hand over his chest as he often did to act wounded. Before I could get another word in, the elevator was stopping. Jarvis was being abnormally quiet, normally he chimed in on the sort of back and forth that Tony and I were having. Tony shifted behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. “We aren’t going too far so just relax alright?” I grumbled but consented seeing as I really had no other option unless I wanted to fight with the man behind me.

Things were quiet but I could almost feel the buzz of energy in the air. There were other bodies around us but I couldn’t tell how many. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Tony pulled off the blindfold and I was greeted with the sight of cake and the rest of the team wearing goofy smiles.

“Surprise!” I was shocked and for a moment didn’t think that all of this was for me. The smiles and the looks of everyone else around the room told me otherwise.

“What’s all of this?” Not that I wasn’t grateful but I was confused about what it was about.

“Well, it’s been almost a year since you joined the team and did you really think that you would be able to hide your birthday from us? Get away without us doing something?” I shrugged as I glanced towards Tony, away from all the smiling faces of the rest of the team.

“Yeah, I sorta did honestly. So, let me guess then. This was your fantastic, genius idea?”

“I’ll take most of the credit sure. They did set it up and get the cake but it was my idea in the first place.”

“Look at that. Never thought I would see the day where I would say that Tony Stark actually had a good idea.” Everyone laughed.

“You shouldn’t be mean to the person throwing you a party. There is still plenty of time to figure out how to embarrass you Sparks.”

“I don’t doubt that.” I took the drink that was being offered to me by Steve, a thankful look on my face. “Thank you guys. I really didn’t expect anything like this.” I was truly touched that they had gone through the effort of putting this together for me. Even when I had been with Stephen, I had treated my birthday as nothing more than another day. Usually Stephen would honor that, even if he fought me a bit and got me a small card.

Glancing around the room as people slid into their own conversations, I found myself smiling.

“So, good idea?” I glanced over to see Tony standing at my side once more, a drink in his hand. I nodded slowly as I took a sip of my own.

“Yeah. Thank you Tony.” We both relaxed back a bit, observing the area around us. “I honestly didn’t expect any of this.”

“You’re part of the team, this is what we do Sparks. There has to be some good times involved among all the crap right? And PR conferences and all that doesn’t count.” I laughed softly and found that I had to agree with him.

“Yeah, yeah. You are right there. Still, I haven’t given a lot of emphasis on my birthday in a long time. The fact that I have been here a year is much higher ranking on the list.” It meant more to be was what I meant but it didn’t come out quite right if I was being honest. I hoped Tony understood what I meant by it. I could see him nod out of the corner of my eye. It was nice to find that sort of unspoken understanding that was coming more and more often between the two of us. I hoped that continued. With all the laughter and relaxation that was permeating the tower right now, I found myself more relaxed, physically and mentally than I had been in a long time. I finally felt truly at home in the tower.


End file.
